How the MYP Personal Project Prepares Students for the Future
A quick internet search of “21st Century Skills” gives a good idea about the currency of this topic in both educational and professional communities. When digging a bit deeper one may feel overwhelmed at the amount of information present on the topic.
In fact, with people of varying levels of qualification and experience providing lists of these skills and claims about which is most important. In the Middle Years Programme (MYP), these skills are called the Approaches to Learning, and they are a foundational piece to how students are prepared for future success.
The grade 10 MYP Personal Project is a core assessment for the Approaches to Learning. In year five of the MYP, students have the opportunity to complete a project based on their own passions and interests. What makes this project challenging and unique, though, is that it requires students to synthesize and apply skills that are not tied to one specific subject; they can’t just find old class notes or textbook knowledge to complete the project.
This is fundamentally different from the types of project experiences many of the adults in both the teaching and parent communities had while in school. This is not to discount the value of the subject knowledge; it plays an important role in how students decide on areas of research focus. Additionally, it often plays a significant part in the students’ choice of project goals, as many will gravitate towards subjects that interest them most and topics that inspire that spirit of extended inquiry.
Over my last few years as project coordinator, I’ve grown to understand the project on a new level. Often, students can get bogged down by looking at a checklist of requirements and meeting those demands. What is both frustrating and freeing about the Personal Project is that the checklist is flexible. This is the opportunity for the students to decide on a passion, develop goals for learning and outcomes, and decide what approaches to take in order to achieve these goals.
Most professionals will agree that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all model for how to approach a problem or project at work. Instead, we make on-the-spot decisions about what tools to use to organize work, communicate with others, locate and access resources, collaborate with coworkers, and troubleshoot problems that may arise.
The Personal Project gives students the opportunity to participate in their own project management, a key skill for success later. They define the goals, they set the parameters for success, and they document and report on the process. It requires a lot of intrinsic motivation on the part of the students, and the teachers work to build scaffolds and collaboration points along the way to help students through the process.
The most exciting thing about the project and how it supports the diverse interests and styles of our students is most evident at the Project Fair each spring, where students showcase their accomplishments. The variety of project choices and approaches are inspiring to see.
Students develop businesses and websites, code games, create works of art, construct instruments and models, compose music, start social media campaigns, build health and wellness plans, and so much more. What is even more inspiring is that the students are the driving force behind the project's success. They decide what to research. They decide how to measure success. They decide how to collaborate. In the end, the Personal Project is a powerful tool for not only assessing the ATLs but for empowering students to be self-directed in their inquiry processes.
SCIS. Self-Directed Learners.
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